I don’t pay a lot of attention to Celine bags, but I happen to have a soft spot for the Boogie bag. Sure, its open at the top, its only hand held and its by all notions a bit of a bother to juggle sometimes. But I love it, and want one in a lovely supple calf leather in a bright colour. Unfortunately, I don’t see it on the website anymore. I hope it isn’t discontinued 😛
The Celine Boogie bag is quite a classic, I’d say. There is nothing bright or garish about it and the lines are clean and simple and the design is straight forward. I walk around in Petaling St. and I don’t see a lot of fakes, if any. A sure sign the bag isn’t all that popular locally (the open top does make people balk) which makes me covet it more. I’d put it as a classic 🙂
But the latest IT bag to come out of the Celine stable is the Luggage Tote. I was pointed in the direction of this by my bag fiend partner in crime (“BFPiC”) some time last year. Then, I said to her quite honestly, “Meh. I don’t like how it looks” Well, that was before said BFPiC said she wanted it. Oops! 😛
I put it out of my mind for the past 6 months but recently, I’ve seen the Celine Luggage Tote grab the world by storm. I see it in magazines, in blogs, on celebrities… everywhere! Everyone who is anyone is touting it as the next Birkin, as a classic, as a “must-have”, and everyone’s swooning over it.
Did it make me want it then?
Uh… no.
Incidentally, I saw the real deal just over the week. I think it belonged to a magazine editor and in real life, that bag is HUGE. I could easily use it for a weekender or stuff a baby into it. Seriously, its gigantic. The leather however, is absolutely lovely. It does come in a few sizes, I read, so perhaps a smaller one might look better for a daily bag than a gigantic weekender.
Practicality aside, I guess I’m just not sold on the design. Sure, one woman’s bag is another’s baggage, so I don’t mind if you disagree 🙂 I seem to after all, be the sole voice of dissent in the case of the Celine Luggage Tote. Almost everyone is swooning over it so maybe I have bad taste LOL!
My beef with it may be to do with the structure and design. I find it stiff and masculine in design in the middle with too many lines and too much going on. The bits that stick out (I call them the ears 😛 ) look soft and floppy. That contrast just doesn’t do it for me, because the ears look like an afterthought. Its like “Oh look! We have some excess leather, darn! Maybe we can make it stick out the sides and people will buy it anyway”. Besides, it looks heavy, and I have enough experience with heavy bags to know that I won’t even go near there anymore.
Due to the size and shape, I have no doubt that this is one of the most practical IT bags out there. You can fit a ton in there, it zips up, you can carry it hand held, over arm or on shoulder if it fits. It comes in a variety of colours and material and is eye catching and different. However, I don’t feel anything tugging at my heart strings or on my wallet yet. Guess I’m safe 🙂
I am going to buck the trend and call the Celine Luggage Tote a fad. I’m not sure if BFPiC still wants it though. Sorry girl, if you’re reading this! 😛
What say you? Celine Luggage Tote: Fad or fab? 🙂
Paris B
Celine Luggage Tote : Local prices unknown. In the USA, it starts from US$2,000
I briefly looked and considered purchasing a Celine Luggage Tote, but I have to be practical and stick to my own style and needs.
I’m not very fond of bags that I have to “tote” around on the crook of my arm, especially if it’s made of hefty leather, and I always prefer my hands free that’s why I always gravitate towards shoulder and cross body bags. It doesn’t make sense to me if I’m going to purchase a quality expensive bag in a substantial size and not fill the bag w/ so many stuff – isn’t that why we buy a big heavy duty bag so we can put stuff in it?
So Celine Luggage Tote is out the window and I stuck w/ PS1.
Ooh! I considered the PS1 once. But I found it too heavy. Lots of these good leather bags tend to be heavy which my back really hates so I’ve had to cut back on carrying heavy bags now. Also, doesn’t help that I carry lots of junk eh? 😉
My first reaction to the Celine luggage tote was ‘it’s ok’. And then it got really popular, probably due to celebrities & popular fashion/lifestyle bloggers. Heck, there are people who own multiple colours of it like a status symbol of being on trend.
So, my reaction to it now is just MEH. Fad. Quite sick of it really.
Haha what an opposite reaction 😀 But I do tend to agree. When a design gets too popular, it puts me off too!
Hi Paris!
Celine Luggage Totes has been in my list for a while now & I love it! I think it’s really stylist. But the problem is, I found it pretty heavy to begin with…
Hi Juli, thanks for sharing 🙂 I did think it was very heavy too but that’s always the drawback with full leather bags 🙂
I don’t like it 🙂
😉 Join the club
initially i do find the celine luggage tote funny looking; yes i did notice the drool face on the bag! haha the design slowly grows on me and i don’t find it as weird looking but i don’t like it enough to want to buy it. maybe because i am not keen to buy bags that are too common.. dont like the feeling of walking on the streets and spotting someone carrying the same bag in the same colour as me!
Argh! Everyone saw the funny face but me 😛 I Only saw the flappy ears LOL!! I don’t think this Celine one is very common on the streets yet. Well, not as common as the Chanels out there so if you do like it, I think its a pretty safe bet maybe due to the various colour combinations and textures available 🙂
I was trying to hunt down a micro size in black but they’re not available, even in Celine Paris and Cannes who ships within the EU! I tried on a medium size here and it’s too big and heavy for my liking. I gave up and spent the money on my dream bag from Chanel.
I think the Micro size works best for most of us of smaller stature but I have read of the horrible wait lists for a bag. Would put me off if I wasn’t already put off LOL! Psst! Which Chanel did you get? 😉
It looks like a bag with too good a posture – stiff, straight, no slouches allowed lol. But I must say, I scrolled up and down to view Phantom Canvas Cream a few times and suspect that I will also dream of it tonight! Nice to look at after a while but not love at first sight.
Haha sometimes, prolonged exposure allows it to grow on you. That might be what Celine hopes! 😉
oh hehe, i meant this lady/blogger friend of michelle phan here: http://thechrisellefactor.com/2012/05/happy-sunday-a-new-addition/ her celine bag is very very nice… she featured it a LOT ever since…
Ooh that one does look a lot nicer! I like the plain body. Not crazy about the ears though 😛
These bags look like robots. Women that swoon over these bags should check their fashion sense at the door.
I don’t like this bag either. Never noticed the bag looked like a face but now I see it haha. My friend really likes it and wanted the micro but I don’t understand what the deal is. Overall I guess I am not really into stiff looking bags –
Hi! Im so dilemma to choose either Chanel’s shopping tote or Celine’s Mini luggage tote. I saw somebody’s Chanel not firm at all..Is it hard to maintain? Any comment about this two bags?
Two words….Robot bag!! It is everywhere and part of me wants to love it, but I just…don’t. I’d much rather have a YSL bag or Mulberry.
I love very structured bags so this is definetly one for me! I decided to take the plunge now as in years to come the classic colours will surely double in price so I say not a fad 😉
Thank god I found your blog!!! I thought I was the only one out there with a doubt about this bag!
I bought the medium phantom recently, was very happy at first. Now that I try carrying it to work n shopping I totally regret….the bag is so HEAVY to the point that I look miserable n it’s my bf who ends up carrying it all the time for me…I guess theres no point…not to mention that the centre of weigh is in the middle so the bottom when u carry will look very pointy…
So sad tho because the leather is extremely nice!